


Plight of the Paladins

by LLHistoryChronicles (EdamamiTomoe)



Category: Love Live! School Idol Project
Genre: Combat, Historical Fantasy
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-11-25
Updated: 2017-11-24
Packaged: 2019-02-06 12:35:38
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 1
Words: 6,112
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12817647
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/EdamamiTomoe/pseuds/LLHistoryChronicles
Summary: Europe has fallen under the shadows of the succubus tyrant Nozomi ever since the late 11th century, as she relentlessly conquered and razed cities and villages alike with her Legions from Hell. It has been two hundred years since the tyrant's emergence, and esteemed paladin Eli Ayase was determined to put an end to her reign of terror. However, neither she nor her daughter and heir, paladin Umi Sonoda, could have predicted what fate had in store for them, and for those who will become dear to them.





	Plight of the Paladins

**Author's Note:**

> This is a rewrite of a fic I have written and posted long ago, titled The Paladin and the Succubus. The original was not meant to be a series, so it was written like a one-shot, but this time, I wanted to do more with the story, and have rewritten it so I can build this into a long-running series. I have much more planned and written, but there is still much I have to write and edit, so the second chapter might not come out for a while. Still, I hope you enjoy this story.

Under the bright moonlight and in the shadows of the evil castle of the succubus looming on the hill, the paladins’ encampment stood, withstanding the battering rain and the endless onslaught of fiends and imps and undeads, each and every one of them trying to break through the sturdy palisade walls or scale them, most of them struck down by the pike-wielding paladins standing atop these walls, many others shot down by the archers in the back, but only few of them staying down. Many layers of palisade walls have been erected in the short amount of time the paladins had during the day to establish their outpost against the stronghold of darkness, but many walls have already been broken through by the succubus tyrant’s mindless troops, and the paladins’ numbers only dwindled the longer the night dragged on.

It was because of this realization that their forces stood no chance of surviving before the forces of Hell, that the head paladin, clad in her enchanted suit of silver armour, had made the decision that she was going to assault the castle alone and strike down the succubus before the paladins once again fail in their campaign against evil. The head paladin’s absence in the encampment though, would mean that her daughter, the young paladin in brigandine, standing in line with the other archers, bow and arrow in hand, would have to assume control, directing the operations of defense, even despite her inexperience. Even as yet another wall fell, and yet another onager is lost to the rampaging fiends though, no one, besides herself, would blame the young paladin for the losses. They simply pray that their leader would be successful in her lone assault of the castle and slay the succubus before they are completely annihilated.

\---

The paladins’ prayers would not go unanswered though, as the head paladin rammed through the wooden door to the main tower with her kite shield and struck down the fiends guarding it with her silver blade, their dark purplish blood spilling out of their bisected torsos as they fell dead. With a horrible chorus of panicked screeching, the other fiends and imps in the tower quickly turned their attention to their new adversary, immediately flying or charging at her, their claws extended and their teeth bared, only to flinch or fall back upon drawing too close to her, the soft blue glow emanating from the moon crystal embedded in the paladin’s breastplate a terrible irritation for creatures from Hell. It would be in this moment of weakness, that the paladin delivered her killing blows, slashing the fiends to pieces and skewering the imps with her sword. The motley crew guarding the base of the tower stood no chance against the champion of light.

Standing in the bloody aftermath of offing the fiends and imps, the paladin surveyed the damage and checked on the condition of her arms. The tip of her sword had been chipped during the fight when it struck a wall, so to undo the damage, she touched the moon crystal, and in a flash of light, restored her blade to its former shape. Then, once again grabbing a hold of her sword, she proceeded up the stairs, determined to make haste, though always slowing down as she passed by arrow slits along the walls, wanting to give her crystal a chance to recharge in the moonlight as she climbed up the tower. The moon crystal was a providence bestowed upon her by the angel of the moon, said to be the key in defeating the vile succubus, decades ago, and it was the source of power and divine inspiration that allowed her a successful overthrow of the corrupt order of paladins, and the establishment of the Order of the Moon, which was dedicated to both upholding moral goodness and the destruction of the Empire of Evil that had plagued Europe for a century and a half now.

Advancing up the stairs, staying close to the walls so she would not risk falling down to the base of the tower, the paladin continued her march, holding up her shield whenever a frightened fiend sent an arrow flying her way and thrusting her sword forward when she drew close enough. The skittery pawns of the succubus really were nothing when the paladin was armed with both silver and divine powers, but the paladin knew better than to become hubristic and overestimate her own strength, remembering the night two decades ago when the squadrons sent out to assault the very same castle were wiped out by the tyrant herself in the matter of minutes. Even if she has divine strength now, the paladin would do well to remind herself that she in the end was simply a human being, and that she should never ever let her guard down, lest she falls victim to the succubus.

Resistance seemed to grow more and more fierce the higher up the tower the paladin went, with what appeared to be more elite fiends armed with larger claws and tougher chitin, resilient enough that a single strike of the sword would not suffice in slaying it. They would leap at her, unintimidated by the glow of the holy light, and strike at her, lashing out at her relentlessly, nearly overwhelming her with their collective weight as she pushed back at them with her shield. The paladin had quickly realized that this could not continue if she were to reach the throne room in time, so as much as she would rather save the moon crystal’s power, she once again called upon it in a prayer, and imbued her blade with holy light. Then, with a single thrust of her sword, she pierced through the elite fiend’s chest with her blade, the holy light slicing through the chitinous armour like it was human flesh. And like that, with her blade enchanted, the paladin slew the elite fiends before her, and pushed all the way to the top of the tower, just before the grand entrance into the throne room.

The head paladin has worked so hard for so many long years to have achieved what she did, and now everything depended on her victory against the succubus tyrant. There was no way she could back down in fear at this point, no way she could let a moment of weakness overtake her, not when the rest of the order’s finest paladins, including her very own adopted daughter, were still down there, fighting a losing battle. She did not know how much longer the encampment will last, but she was not willing to let fear nor doubt stop her now, not when she has assaulted this fortress alone and pushed all the way up to this tower. She needed to slay the succubus tonight, both for the sake of all that is good and just, and for her daughter’s survival.

Her sword and shield tightly in hand, her moon crystal still well charged, the paladin kicked the door to the throne room open and stepped in, not wasting any time gazing upon the gruesome decor of the human bones strewn about the throne room, and instead marching straight for the succubus seated upon the throne of skulls. The paladin stopped a short distance from the tyrant, pointing her blade and her gaze at the monstrosity. In a loud, determined voice, she declared, “Nozomi, vile temptress of blood, cruel desolator of morals, irredeemable emissary of Hell, incorrigible succubus, enslaver of mankind! I am Eli Ayase, head paladin of the Order of the Moon, and by my blade, shall your tyranny over the good and innocent end tonight!”

The succubus, having heard the paladin’s proclamation, peered at the challenger standing before her, continuing to savour the taste of her vile wine, gracing her with an acknowledgement that didn’t extend beyond the malicious grin that came across her face. Then, seeming to have taken a new interest in the paladin, Nozomi shifted herself in her seat to face Eli, lewdly putting on display her impressive cleavage and her full thighs through her rather promiscuous dress, though to neither of those assets did the paladin pay any attention. Swirling the blood in her goblet as her eyes roamed over the armour-clad figure, the succubus softly licked her lower lip and said with a devious smirk on her face, “You have done well to come this far, paladin, it is quite a tragedy that you shall meet your end here. Divine blessing or not, no mortal has ever bested me in combat, and none ever will, no matter what fierce convictions you may hold in your heart. After all, I am a creature of desire, of the mind, and beings like you are fragile creatures…”

Swinging her sword down and holding up her shield, in preparation for combat, the paladin took a defensive stance, and braced herself for whatever her adversary had in mind for her. Her heart beating fast, no matter how much she tried to calm herself, Eli simply could not forget how quickly her former sisters-in-arms fell before the tyrant, and knew well that she needed to remain focused, lest she fall before her as well. Responding to her taunts and hubristic words, the paladin said, “My form is protected by enchanted silver, and my mind guarded by holy light. I shall fall prey to neither your might nor your guile, nor shall any other women ever again, when I banish you back to Hell!”

Seeming amused by such a bold claim, the succubus uncrossed her legs and took another sip of her wine, tilting her head at the paladin determined to slay her. Slowly opening up her massive wings, blocking out the moonlight shining in through the windows behind her, Nozomi said calmly, with a hint of amusement in her voice, “Back to Hell, hmm? What is a woman, but a miserable pile of pretense? But enough talk, have at you!”

Watching the succubus toss aside her goblet and letting its contents run red on the stony floors, the paladin let out a battle cry and broke into a charge, her shield in front of her and her blade at the ready. Swinging her sword at her target just as the succubus stood up out of her throne and flew up in the air, the paladin struck her blade into the throne of bones, but swiftly pulled it back out, just in time to raise her shield to block the succubus’s fiery breath. Any normal silver would have softened in this heat, but the holy light emitted from the moon crystal drastically enhanced the durability of the shield, its soft blue glow nullifying the heat of the flames. As soon as the torrent of flames stopped, Eli stepped back onto more stable ground, and prepared to make another strike.

Knowing well that her blade would not reach the succubus while she was in the air, the paladin charged up her sword with power from the moon crystal in a swift instant. With a resolute swing, she sent a blue crescent of light flying towards her target, only to have it sail through the air and slice into the stone wall. The succubus had swiftly flown overhead towards the centre of the room and, just as Eli whipped around to face her opponent again, blown her a taunting kiss. Of course, unlike the real deal, that blown kiss has no real effect on the paladin asides from frustrating her, but it was enough to prompt her to once again break into a charge towards her adversary.

A smug smile on her face, Nozomi simply stood there, her legs straight and somewhat apart, her hips thrust back, her bust pushed forward, lewdly posing for Eli even as the paladin charged at her with her sword and shield out. When her challenger closed the distance between them enough though, the succubus suddenly leaped up and made a dive for the paladin, her claws outstretched and poised to strike. The paladin had foolishly allowed herself to come too close without using her crystal to power up for another ranged attack, too close to be able to hold up her shield in time to block. Despite such an opportune moment though, the succubus was not able to do any real damage, not when the paladin used her divine powers to repel her, deflecting her off her silver-clad body. The most Nozomi could do in that instance was to use the momentum built up from the dive to bounce back, landing on her feet, and take a defensive stance.

From the look on her opponent’s face, Eli quickly gathered that Nozomi must be formulating a new strategy against her, given how effective her moon crystal was at protecting her. For a brief moment, she considered sticking close to the centre of the throne room, where the moonlight shining through the windows gathered, just so she could continue to take advantage of her divine protection. But of course, the paladin would never do something so foolishly predictable, not when her opponent was cunning and calculating, and could likely discover a weakness to exploit while she stayed around in the centre.

Every minute the paladin spent doubting herself with her shield up in defense was another minute the succubus had to strategize, and the paladin knew this well. Not wanting to give her opponent another minute, Eli quickly broke into a charge once again, her sword and shield up. She knew well that her opponent should not be able to do the same dive again without leaving herself wide open, not when she was so close to the wall, and will choose instead to fight back. So as soon as she saw the succubus’s tail curl up, the paladin quickly brought up her shield, just in time to block and knock away the spiny tail.

Taking advantage of such a careless attack with a longer recovery time, the paladin tapped into her crystal’s power to give herself a boost of speed, and continued her charge towards the succubus without losing any time from the parry. Satisfied with the look of surprise on Nozomi’s face, as the succubus pretty clearly didn’t expect her to come at her with such velocity, Eli charged up her shield with divine light and slammed the succubus into the wall. Using her body weight to keep Nozomi pinned to the shallow crater she had created in the stone wall, the paladin quickly imbued her blade with holy might and plunged it deep into the succubus’s abdomen, twisting it until black, bloody fumes poured from the stab wound.

Despite the incredible pain she was in, Nozomi didn’t let it hinder her retaliation for a moment. She had noticed as soon as the shield made impact with her body that Eli was putting an extensive amount of her holy strength into offense, in a way that was leaving her vulnerable to attack. Her body still pinned to the wall, the succubus quickly curled her long tail around and thrust it towards the paladin’s left shoulder, and surely enough, it didn’t deflect off of her like before. Instead, the sharp spines dug under the shoulder guard through the spaces in between plates, broke through links in the hauberk, and tore through flesh. Her scowl twisting into a cruel smile once again, Nozomi whipped her tail back, making sure to let her spines dig into Eli’s shoulder again on the way back.

Taking advantage of the paladin’s staggering back in pain, the succubus pushed her back and unleashed another torrent of fiery breath at her, but only for long enough that Eli will be forced back trying to extinguish the flames with her divine light. Flying up into the air, Nozomi forcefully flapped her wings, creating a gust so strong it blown the paladin back and knocked her down. Though the moonlight-seeking knight was now sprawled out on the floor in the middle of the throne room, struggling to pull herself up, Nozomi didn’t mind one bit, not when the moonlight was slowly receding from that convenient location and retreating towards the windows. Hovering in the air before Eli, a proud look on her face despite the throbbing wounds still fuming out blood, the succubus said, “You aren’t too bad, paladin, but you’re going to have to do better than that, if you think such cheap tricks will be enough to overwhelm me. A creature of the night such as myself is incredibly resilient, and no amount of silver nor holy light you assail me with will be enough to slay me.”

Still bearing the pain biting into her shoulder, the searing pain from the brief moment of immolation, and the aching besieging her body from being thrown back by the wind, Eli struggled to pull herself back up. Though she wished she had spared some of her moon powers to rejuvenate her body now, the paladin refused to let weakness seize her for even a single moment. Relying on strength from adrenaline, she took a defensive stance and braced herself for impact as the succubus once again dove at her, claws outstretched. Having noticed that this dive was a little different from the previous ones though, the succubus’s wings a bit more fanned out to the sides and causing a bit more drag, Eli figured that this was likely to be a fake-out for a likely more devastating attack. It would perhaps be riskier to block this time rather than simply ducking, or rolling to the side, but she of course would remain standing firmly, otherwise the succubus might change her plan of attack.

Surely enough, the paladin’s intuition was correct. As her adversary pulled into a close enough distance, she suddenly whipped back and lashed her spiny tail out. Rather than ducking or rolling to the side as she had planned though, Eli instead gave into her instincts and dropped her sword and shield. As Nozomi’s tail came close enough to her, the paladin reached out and grabbed a hold of it, clutching tightly and refusing to let go, even as the force of impact threatened to push her back. Giving the shocked succubus a smirk, Eli swung, putting her entire body weight into it, and released, sending the arrogant monster flying into the stone wall. Picking up her arms and quickly retreating towards the sliver of moonlight shining in through the windows to recharge her moon crystal, the paladin said, her voice full of satisfaction, “That ‘cheap trick’ seems to have worked quite well enough. Convenient that you should mistaken my moment of weakness for your triumph, when I am nowhere near as weak or fragile as you might imagine me to be.”

Pulling herself from the dent in the stone wall the impact had made, Nozomi glared at Eli with indignant anger in her eyes, furious that the paladin had made a fool of her. Though, she did have to admit that she had underestimated her challenger’s quick reflexes, and that perhaps she should forgo making anymore wide attacks unless she was absolutely certain she had the upper hand. Especially now that the paladin’s given herself time to recharge and recover her injuries. As annoyed as she was with this situation though, the succubus couldn’t help but feel an arousing thrill invigorating her body, finally having a worthy opponent after so many decades. Giving herself a chance to heal her own wounds as well, Nozomi responded, her tone just as arrogant as before, but now also with a hint of promiscuity, “Is that so now, o noble paladin? We’ll have to see about that. I do love a good challenge, and if you truly are as strong as you say, I’m sure I will have plenty of fun watching you break.”

Watching the succubus regenerate the stab wound, the paladin quickly moved away from the window and once again braced herself for combat. Holding her shield and blade tightly in her hands, her moon crystal shimmering with holy might, Eli might seem just as resolute as she did when she first stepped foot into this throne room, but in her heart she was beginning to worry. This fight was dragging on longer than she had hoped it would, and the moon was slowly moving directly overhead the tower in its journey across the nightsky. When that happens, the moon will completely be eclipsed by the tower’s roof, and she will no longer receive divine blessing. If she wants to slay the tyrant before she falls prey to the shadows, and her paladins to the fiends, Eli was going to have to hurry. But rather than charging forward and being on the offensive, she continued to circle around the throne room with the succubus, eyeing her every movement carefully. She had realized during the fight that Nozomi was a lot craftier and strategic than she had anticipated, and that simply throwing caution to the wind could easily result in her demise.

There was no more time left to worry though, not when the succubus seemed to have decided to go on the offensive, flying low and fast towards her with her claws outstretched. Holding her shield up, the paladin swiftly blocked the first strike that came at her, only to have the other the other claws jab into her sides. That was nothing the moon crystal’s power can’t deflect, but Eli has quickly came to realize that Nozomi was a lot more agile than she had given her credit for, and a lot more adept at hand-to-hand combat than she had shown herself to be. Pushing the claws back with her shield, the paladin forcefully thrusted her sword forward, though not only did the attack not connect, she was immediately retaliated with a tail lash to her other side. Again, that was an attack that could be deflected with holy light, but the paladin knew well that this couldn’t keep up, not when her opponent had two weapons more than her and could use them all simultaneously.

It was clear that the succubus was trying to wear down the paladin by rapidly striking at her from angles her shield could not block quickly enough, forcing her to use her holy might to protect herself, so Eli decided she needed to stop relying on only her shield. Nozomi’s claws came again at her, swiping and stabbing at her relentlessly, but this time the paladin was more than prepared to block one claw with her shield and parry the other with her blade. And when the tail came lashing out at her from the side at an angle neither her shield nor sword could block, Eli took a chance, and sidestepped just enough out of the way. But instead of simply dodging, she brought her foot down hard on Nozomi’s tail, and, compromising her defense for just a moment, swiped her sword down, cutting off a segment of the succubus’s tail.

Hearing the succubus growling in pain as she whipped back her tail, leaving behind a trail of bloody fumes, was quite satisfactory, but the paladin had to quickly kick away the tail segment and return her attention back to parrying, because her opponent wasn’t letting up for a single moment. In fact, Nozomi’s attacks seemed to be coming in faster and faster, to the point where Eli was having more and more trouble avoiding having to use her divine strength to deflect unblocked attacks. She had become so entirely focused on remaining defensive that when the tail came again at her, she foolishly made a mistake of swiping widely at it, and falling right into the succubus’s trap. But it was too late to react when the tail, with its stubby end, wrapped itself around her sword, forcefully wrenching it from her grasp, and flung it towards the wall on the other side of the throne room.

Having been disarmed, Eli immediately tried to fall back, but she could only protect herself so much with a shield and no sword. Nozomi didn’t let up for a single moment though, and kept close to her, striking at her without any hesitation. There was no way Eli could block all of the attacks with her shield, and exhausting her moon crystal deflecting these attacks would simply wear her down until she was defenseless. When the succubus’s claws came at her from somewhere she could not protect herself from, she simply allowed herself to take the hit, hoping and yet knowing her armour would not protect her enough. She had expected the succubus to jab her steel-like claws in through the spaces in between the plates, but instead, Nozomi latched her claws onto the moon crystal itself, trying to pry it out from its socket. Realizing what the succubus was trying to do, Eli quickly released a blast of holy light from her crystal, forcing Nozomi back and searing her hand. But as the succubus fell back, the paladin suddenly felt her feet slip, and fell hard onto her back. It was only then that she realized the succubus had at some point coiled her tail around her ankle without her noticing, but it was already far too late.

For a moment, all Eli could see through her helmet visor was the ceiling, moving upwards rapidly, and then, nothing but a blur. And then, nothing. She tried to call for the moon crystal’s power to heal her wounds, but she couldn’t feel its holy glow flowing through her body. Falling down onto all fours from the crater in the wall, the paladin feebly scrambled for the moon crystal, relying on the warm glow it emitted with her vision still out. Divine light from the crystal had absorbed much of the impact when she was flung into the wall, preventing it from paralyzing or killing her. But with the crystal already loosened from its socket because of the succubus’s claws, the impact had also forced it out, preventing the paladin from recovering her injuries. At least until she found it feeling around the floor.

As soon as her hand found the moon crystal, its comforting, holy light once again filled her body, and began rejuvenating her body. Being able to see once again, Eli slowly pulled herself back up, clutching the moon crystal tightly in her left hand, and quickly scanned for her blade. Thankfully for her, it seemed like she had been flung near where her sword had landed, so it didn’t take very long for her to rearm herself and once again take a defensive stance against the succubus. Unfortunately, the moon crystal was running low on power, and with the moon directly over the tower now, no moonlight was shining in through the windows. The paladin had no choice but to conserve the last of the crystal’s power, even if it meant leaving her body aching and weak.

Her eyes may be restless in their sockets, unwilling to fixate on her opponent, but the paladin could still see clearly that the succubus had simply been watching her this whole time, rather than taking advantage of her weakness. There was no reason for Nozomi to, really, when the both of them were well aware that Eli’s defeat was rather imminent, and there was nothing the poor paladin could do about it. She could only stand there, clutching onto her moon crystal and her sword tightly, and pray that the other paladins fighting down below do not perish in vain. Once again, the succubus began slowly circling her, forcing her to do the same to keep a distance between them, and tauntingly called out, “What’s wrong, Eli Ayase, o noble paladin? I thought you had boasted yourself to be quite indomitable, your holy defenses impregnable? And now you’re cowering submissively like a coward, all because of that? What, your moon crystal can’t cover such grave injuries?”

The more Eli circled around, the less stiff her body felt, but no amount of mobility now could change the fact that only a miracle would save her now, if that even was possible with the moon still eclipsed by the roof. And with the succubus slowly walking across the throne room towards her now, each sultry step evoking a stronger sense of dread in her than the last, there were only moments left before her possible demise. But even then, what could she do, but pull into a shaky defensive stance, with her back against the wall? Bluff. It would get her nowhere, but at least it would give her somewhat of a last laugh, if it meant anything at all. “Hmph, grave injuries? I think you’re exaggerating, succubus; t’is but a scratch! A mere flesh wound! No matter what savage, what utterly barbaric attacks you throw my way, you can’t kill me so easily!”

Though she was too weak to fight at this point, only able to swing her sword around uselessly trying to fend off the spiny tail, Eli was able to savour once again the look of annoyance and disgust on Nozomi’s face at her silly little bluff. Of course, the thrill and satisfaction from that only lasted so long, before she was once again faced with the threat of death. Her sword once again wrenched out of her grasp and flung across the room, the paladin was left completely defenseless, the only thing saving her life now her dimly glowing moon crystal. Though, that would not do anything to keep the spiny tail from coiling tightly around her waist and lifting her into the air, before promptly flinging her around and bashing her into the floor. The only thing the crystal could do at this point, with the miniscule amount of power left in it, was keep the impact from killing her.

Again and again, the helpless paladin was swung into the wall, and then the floor, each and every one of those a mortal blow if it wasn’t for the moon crystal, all while the tyrant cackled at the sight of her ragdoll body, battered and powerless. All Eli could do was clutch her moon crystal tightly to her chest, praying that its power do not deplete before she could receive moonlight again, but knowing it would likely not amount to anything. The only thing such a futile prayer could achieve now was to help distract her from the succubus’s sadistic voice, crying out, “I had thought you a challenge, Eli Ayase, and look at yourself now! Hahahaha, how pathetic! How absolutely useless! No divine bauble will save you now, paladin!”

By this point, the paladin, as well as her moon crystal, had been pushed to their very limit. Her body was thoroughly broken, her spirit just as weak as the dim glow of her moon crystal. The only thing that saved her from the humiliation and demoralization of having been defeated by the succubus this way was the fact that she was barely conscious, barely alive. It seemed like the tyrant had taken note of the dimming moon crystal though, and decided to put an end to it, the spiny tail uncoiling from the paladin’s waist and flinging her down onto the centre of the throne room. And then, bouncing back into the air and getting into position, Nozomi closed her wings around her as tightly as she could, and dove down straight for Eli.

Dropping down at such an incredible speed, undoubtedly augmented by her powers, the succubus crashed into the paladin and slammed her through the stone floors with barely any resistance. Such a move has damaged the throne room so badly that the floors were quickly crumbling away, debris falling down all around, but the succubus paid that no heed. Striking such a resounding victory against a champion the humans had sent, a champion who was blessed by an angel, no less, filled the tyrant such an immense feeling of pride. She simply couldn’t see any reason not to damage her own castle to make for a showy finish. A finisher that would end with her smashing her helpless prey into the ground at the very bottom of the tower, 200 feet below the throne room.

As the dust from the fallen rocks cleared away, it left behind a paladin, lying almost completely still, save for her slow and shallow breaths, in the crater in the ground. The moon crystal she had held onto so tightly for her dear life was now fractured and cracked, and devoid of the holy light it once bore. Even if it was completely indistinguishable from a regular sapphire though, the succubus still kicked it out of the paladin’s hand. In the complete darkness of the tower, the arrow slits along the walls covered up with debris, all the torches blown out by the wind, there was to be no miracles whatsoever, not for the devout champion who had risked her life to fight evil, and failed.

As coldness and numbness filled her body, Eli Ayase could do naught but recount her regrets. Nothing could make her blood flow slower than the realization that she would not be able to save her daughter from the rampaging armies of evil, that she would not be able to return home safely as she had promised her wife. Perhaps she had been too hubristic in thinking that she could have possibly defeated the succubus tyrant alone. But how could she have known better? The moon crystal was bestowed upon her by the angel of the moon, along with the prophecy that with the crystal, the succubus shall be slain, was she not simply fulfilling Goddess’s will? Perhaps, in the end, the fault lied with her, and her powerlessness to protect the people she loved so dearly.

The succubus would not allow her to rest just yet, though, not even in the last moments of her consciousness. Straddling Eli’s body and leaning forward, Nozomi hastily unfastened the paladin's helmet and threw it aside. Her face pale with death, her golden ponytail dirtied and matted with filth, underneath her silver, the paladin hadn’t much to gaze upon, but the succubus still found such a deathly visage to be rather alluring. Holding Eli’s cold face in her hands, Nozomi brought her lips to hers, tenderly kissing it for a moment before biting down hard on the girl’s lower lip, drawing blood. Pulling in close, in the last moments of her prey’s consciousness, the succubus whispered to her, “Don’t you worry, dear Eli Ayase, I’m not going to let you die just yet. You have demonstrated yourself to be quite exceptional in our fight, so I do believe that you will become quite useful to my plans. Hmhm, look at all that unbridled anger stirring in that weak heart of yours, though. You aren’t quite ready to submit yet, are you? Why don’t we change that, hmm? We are going to be together, for a long, long time...”

\---

Throughout the night, the moon had shone brightly, illuminating the paladins’ paths with the promise of victory. With such a change in fortune though, storm clouds had begun to roll in, slowly obscuring the moon until its light was but a distant apparition, hidden in the darkness. And then, slowly, it began to rain, at first simply a light drizzle, and then a terrible downpour, accompanied by flashes of lightning and claps of thunder. She had never studied divination well, but seeing such a sudden change in weather had filled the young paladin Umi Sonoda’s heart with dread. The fiends were not letting up their deadly assault, and her mother has yet to return from the castle. She could not help but feel as if something had gone terribly wrong, but even so she could not say a word about it. The order was standing on its last legs, and the last thing they needed was something to further demoralize them.

Putting her bow and quiver to the side, Umi grabbed her longsword and marched on towards the palisade wall. Far too many halberdiers have fallen, too many siege weapons lost, there was no way she could risk letting any of those fiends scale the palisade walls. Not when there were only three layers of it left. Maybe if her mother found out, she might admonish her for putting herself in danger, or maybe she would praise her for her bravery, but Umi would never find out if she simply allowed the encampment to fall. Or she might, when she meets her again in Heaven. Clutching her long sword tightly, Umi marched forth to greet the forces of Hell.


End file.
